I try to space these postings apart, leaving at least two or three days between them, so as not to wear people out. Last week I started uploading the new audiobook version of Hardcore Zen (see the cover to your left). My plan was for the next posting (i.e. this one) to be all about the audiobook. I invested my own time and cash into this project, so you’d best believe I’m going to be pushing it as hard as I can. All the haters who hate when I advertise anything (cuz that’s sooo not Zen, maaaaan), get your hatred ready!
BUT it’s taking forever — at least in these highly speeded up times we live in — for the thing to “go live” (as we say in the audiobook biz). I screwed up a few things. Plus the audiobook itself is way bigger than an ordinary CD. I made a CD version for my friend Jimi and it took up six discs! I have no plans to press any CDs of the audiobook, by the way. If anyone wants to suggest an economical way to make some CDs, hit me up. Or a cheap way to put it out on a boxed set of 18 record albums for that matter. Otherwise, it’ll just be available as a download.
I’ve even got two commercials for the thing ready to go, and I’m going to shoot a third one on Sunday at the weekly 7 pm zazen thing I host at Akron Shambhala Center (133 Portage Trail Ste 202 Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221).
Alas, I have to keep holding on to the posting in which I tell you the amazing story of how I recorded the audiobook and what I think of Hardcore Zen nine years after it was published.
But I will tell you something else and that is…
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
That’s because I have been doing my taxes today. My annual income for 2011 was not quite as dire as I had feared. Which isn’t to say it was really great. But it wasn’t so godawful as I expected. When I looked at my yearly book royalty statements of $2,951.08 from New World Library for three books and $4,133.98 from Wisdom Publications for Hardcore Zen I was all like, “Jeez. That’s what I earned last year?”
Kids, do not become a writer if you want to get rich. Yes there are a handful of writers who are filthy rich. But most of us are barely getting by.
As most of you know, I do not have a temple or a Zen Center or any other such organization that supports what I do Zen-wise. The so-called “Dogen Sangha” is basically just a name. There are some folks out in California working towards making it more than that by incorporating it as a religious non-profit. But at the moment it’s still basically just a name. I think we’re established as an entity. But we haven’t got the paperwork that makes us a true non-profit that can accept donations yet.
However, what I do have is a little PayPal donation button on this here blog (it’s to your left <<<). And I made more in donations last year than I did in book royalties. This is figuring in the donations I received while on tour in Europe and America. But still, the stuff coming in from that little button was not insignificant.
So thank you very much for that. There are several people who send in a little bit each month and that really helps. And sometimes someone sends me a large donation, which is always as nice as it is baffling. Because it’s never someone I know and it’s almost always someone from a foreign country that I’ve never visited.
I don’t really like the idea of living on donations. I feel like a person ought to work to earn his keep. Donations seem like charity.
But on the other hand, I don’t charge anything for this blog. The ad revenue it generates is negligible. If I were writing a column for a magazine I’d be getting paid out of what readers paid to buy the magazine. So it kind of amounts to the same thing. Only the way I do this, you get to cut out the middle men and send the money directly to the writer. So I figure these aren’t really donations in that sense.
In my youth I was always disgusted by television evangelists begging for cash contributions on their shows while surrounded by the most gaudy opulent sets imaginable. You could tell those guys were getting filthy rich by promising rewards in Heaven.
But all religious type people live on donations. Your contributions aren’t always going to buy fancy houses and multiple Mercedes Benzes. And there are some people out there who really don’t mind supporting some religious dude’s five-a-day luxury car habit. I don’t get that myself. But I know they’re out there.
I feel like honesty is the deciding factor. The Sex Pistols called their reunion tour the Filthy Lucre Tour to specifically emphasize that it was for the money. And yet you could see that they really enjoyed playing those songs again and that their messages were still relevant. So was it really just about the money? It didn’t look that way to me.
I’ve been highly critical of certain filthy rich Zen Masters not because they got rich. God bless ’em for that! I’ve been critical because they got rich by being dishonest, by promising things they could not possibly deliver. By pretending that what they actually did deliver was something it was clearly not.
Even though I have no compunctions about getting paid for doing work, and even though I consider standing up on a stage talking for a few hours work (it’s lots harder than it looks, trust me), I still get all creepy crawly feeling when I hear someone at a Buddhist temple I’ve spoken at reminding the crowd about the merit of “dana” — Buddhist generosity. I know that speech is what’s going to pay my gas money back home and maybe even buy me a burrito or a veggie burger. But it reminds me too much of the old televangelist con game or of some of the crud I hear spewing from the mouths of crooked phony Zen Masters.
So I remain deeply conflicted about the whole thing. Nishijima Roshi advised his ordained teachers never to try to make a living out of being Buddhist teachers. I’ve been trying to kind of skirt the issue by making my living as a writer. Yes, what I write about mostly is Buddhism, as well as about being a Buddhist teacher. But still, it’s the writing I’m trying to live off of, not the teaching.
I dunno, folks. I just don’t know…
But that being said, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
And Crum the Cat thanks you too!
You might get some money from me. My taxes aren't even started yet though.
At least your internal organs seem to be in the right places.
Unlike the Vulcans.
2
This comment has been removed by the author.
Any of us in the realm of Dharma sharing or instruction will need to have a day job, unless one is a writer/lecturer on the order of Jack K. Brad is a smart guy and a fine wordsmith, and just needs to find some vocation that he can pair with his writing and teaching. What does Brad do all day? One can't write all day….so, find a vocation that you like that might allow for occasional travel, and use the book royalties to supplement your income, not be your income. It's very doable and consistent with what some Zen abbots require, that one have a real day job so as not to allow the zendo to be a refuge for the unemployed.
What if I sent a crate of cat food? What is Crumb eating these days?
More food for thought: A fraction of your donations came from people that read your books, but didn't pay for them. You might book that immeasurable income under book royalty statements. The reasoning might be either remorse or "try-before-buy" 😉
Mumon said,
"At least your internal organs seem to be in the right places."
Yes, Thank goodness you haven't sold a kidney yet.. But I can't help but wonder why you don't take a nice part time job to supplement your donation income. Add that extra money to your $7000 book royalties, plus the speaking fees plus donations and all of a sudden you're making good money for an person living in Akron.
Japanese Translator jobs
You need to turn that new cover into another tshirt
Hey Brad,
Kunaki.com
I use it for my cd – dvd production. They require that you upoad the audio fill off a cd (cds)which you have, and cover art. They burn em, print the disc, print the case, and package em, for around a buck a disc.
The DON'T have an easy was to bundle groups of discs, although if you google "kunaki" there are a couple of 79 dollar programs that can take a link on your site, send kunaki a multi disc order, and kunaki handles the billing and shipping, paying you by paypal.
Love your books, amuse myself with your blog, and endlessly wish you well. palms together, Wayne
Post about your penis and I'll send in $250. I'm talking size, shape, smell, etc.
Hi Brad, My question is are donations to you via this blog tax-deductible? Do you send a an end-of-year statement to the people who donate? Thanks. Charlie
Homeopathy jobs in India
This comment has been removed by the author.
This comment has been removed by the author.
actually it was interesting the way sweeping zen changed from pro you to anti-you after jundo gave them some money !
how about as little "buy sweeping zen" fund?
i doubt you need much !
—————-
actually i think "the dogen sangha"
is more than a name.
it's as bizzare a collection of back stabbing fruit cakes as i have ever seen
more
power
to
dogens
dick !
————
so just set up a separate donation button for "sweeping zen advertising"
have a target of about $3000 fo a years advertising on sweeping zen and the world's your oyster !
it would just be bad luck if the tea leaf sangha has plenty of money and can outbid you though !
Hi Brad, My question is are donations to you via this blog tax-deductible? Do you send a an end-of-year statement to the people who donate? Thanks. Charlie
Sorry, Charlie (I bet you're sick of that) but no. Once Dogen Sangha is set up as a religious non-profit, I plan to reconfigure the donations so that people can send them to Dogen Sangha and get an end-of-the-year statement. Then Dogen Sangha will pay me a portion of what they receive.
Until that gets set up it's just sort nebulous tax-wise. You might still be able to call it a charitable donation. I don't really know.
Hey Brad, you said you make basically squat off your books from royalties. So I'm wondering, do you make more from the ebook versions or the printed versions? Or are the royalties you get from each the same?
"Once Dogen Sangha is set up as a religious non-profit, I plan to reconfigure the donations so that people can send them to Dogen Sangha and get an end-of-the-year statement. Then Dogen Sangha will pay me a portion of what they receive."
I don't see this being much different from what any of the roshi's are doing (including Genpo) except in terms of scale of money flowing in.
And obviously you're not a lying scumbag…but there are some questions about how receiving and eventually depending on this kind of money may effect your teachings, imo.
I think Master Nishijima's thing of being a more self-sufficient person who lives and works in the world is a better model and example.
I'm open to reasonable discussion on the matter, but the suggested model gives me the creeps and strikes me as quite the wrong sort of 'backwards step' for Dogen Sangha.
Regards,
Harry.
I'm part of the small group trying to get the Dogen Sangha Los Angeles non-profit off the ground.
I don't know how similar or different what we're trying to do is economically from what anyone else is doing. As far as the economics influence on Brad's teaching, I'm not really worried about it, for two reasons. 1) I know Brad, and wouldn't be volunteering a single second of my time if I thought he was that type of person. 2) Part of the point of the non-profit is the donator will no longer donating directly to Brad, so the non-profit will be a insulator between the donator and Brad. When someone donates to the non-profit, the money will go into the general fund to pay rent, webhosting, print up some flyers, buy tea, candles, zafus, and pay Brad. When you donate, there will be no way of knowing if your dollar went to Brad or to webhosting, etc.
Funny sort of non-profit org that profits an unelected leader, no?… or maybe Brad will work as administrator, CEO, janitor or…?
I have no objection to a non-profit org otherwise (to support a practice community, centre, projects/publications etc for example)
Well, I suppose it's none of my business if it's just a Dogen Sangha LA thing (if it is my business at all!), but I always admired Nishijima Sensei's value of the importance of having 'ordinary' people living and working in the world as practitioners and teachers. This move would change things in that regard I think and might alter the tone of Dogen Sangha quite a bit.
Regards,
Harry.
harry bites
"I think Master Nishijima's thing of being a more self-sufficient person who lives and works in the world is a better model and example. "
i think eckhart tolle is the best example, but not everyone gets to buttfuck oprah
what people here don't realise is that advaita is the borg and has taken over, whatever you do is in competition with tenthousand housewives setting themselves up
as the seventh patriarch i graciously give the best zen advice for generations, i don't expect to make money, in fact it costs me heaps through lost time
that's just todays paradigm,
it teaches me a bit and that's about it !
Hi Brad,
I think you and everyone forgets that the Buddha went and begged for food everyday so he could eat. I think it is perfectly fine to have a friggin button where folks can give you a little cash because their grateful for your teaching. Or it could be that they just think your cute, don't know.
Also, don't forget that Buddha also had wealthy benefactors who provided land and shelter for him and his disciples. That's no different that someone making a large donation to you.
Harty said, "but I always admired Nishijima Sensei's value of the importance of having 'ordinary' people living and working in the world as practitioners and teachers. This move would change things in that regard I think and might alter the tone of Dogen Sangha quite a bit."
I agree with you. I wonder why Brad ignores his teacher's advice on matters of fame and money. I fear Brad deems himself too special for honest part-time labor.
an3drew: i had a vision in which the sixth patriarch authorised me to teach! so i'm the seventh patriarch
Okaaaaaay.
"So I remain deeply conflicted about the whole thing. Nishijima Roshi advised his ordained teachers never to try to make a living out of being Buddhist teachers. I've been trying to kind of skirt the issue by making my living as a writer. Yes, what I write about mostly is Buddhism, as well as about being a Buddhist teacher. But still, it's the writing I'm trying to live off of, not the teaching."
I'm personally jealous you can afford a living by teaching and writing books, and sure the blog is also paying some taxes. I have deep respect about how you manage to get your butt out of the seat and do all the stuff you are doing. I also dreamed a lot of times about escaping my life and do something different. Maybe which would be of use to people and not only earning money.
I think with a lot of money there also comes a lot of responsibility and that is not nice. I stay tuned and like to read your work.
But is it bad to chase after a normal day to day job? I don't think so – It is also not easy. But the day to day regularity can also bring structure. But a lot of times I feel like a rebel and want to get out of everything, live a life somewhere in nature without technology and the information overload these technics are bringing along into our lifes.
My grandparents are rejecting almost everything which has to do with internet, but sometimes I'm astonished because some time ago they bought a television on ebay and want to have a internet connection to watch youtube movies on the tv. That is so contradicory… But probably they don't understand me, living in the age of Internet.
Is it a bad thing to earn a living as a so called Zen Master? I personally think earning money with helping other people is like a provision of a service. If it helps other people, why the hell not! Of course it could harm the image if a Zen Master has a whole collection of expensive cars. But if he is so enlightened by which means can I judge if that is appropriate. I don't know, but probably I would decide to life a normal life like the buddha, letting go of all material commodities, living a life by bagging for food and keep the middle way. But I guess Buddha was kind of in a luxurious position back in the days, when his followers were basically following him everywhere. I'm wondering if Buddha would have lived in our times if he would have said: fuck off, leave me alone I just want to have my peace. Maybe that's the reason why everybody assumed he was the almighty one.
I didn't live in that times so it is hard to tell, but quite sure there was something spiritual happening. The people made so called experiences, but that was probably not why they continued following the buddha. Probably they realized the peace they experienced was something different than the full enlightenment of the buddha.
I'm wondering what is dogens take on it, as he probably made similar experiences. Sometimes there is something fancy happening and it causes some bees and butterflies in your stomach, but that's not it. Love is a way to overrated and outdated word, as it is used everywhere. From a certain point on people always think about Love but what is actually meant by Love. Love is a feeling and probably not very different to any other feeling which we might face in our lives.
…
This comment has been removed by the author.
…
A lot of times I'm fighting against emotions, and I'm sometimes wondering why I have to laugh in situations which are not meant to be funny at all. I think in different cultures laughing can be interpreted as aggression. But there have always been misinterpretations with foreigners. For example indians are wobbling if they want to agree like we are shaking the head.
I have to fart a lot the last couple of days, I'm wondering if it is related to my vegetarian food orientation. But as long as no others get harmed by my farts it is probably ok. I would rather not fart if other people are next to me, and I guess guys do understand the need to fart better than girls do. But probably this view is completely outdated. It is just that you as a guy want to leave a good impression towards the ladies. Leaving good impressions can cause a lot of problems. I met a girl lately and she thought she was developing some feelings, whereas it was not my intention. But sometimes you get caught up – what to do about it, it is really sad I have to admit. But why do I always have to think about sex? I should look for things that stay and also not these online dating-portals. But facebook & co are a different story.
I'm curious about the audiobook, keep us posted.
You could always get a job.
jinzang quotes me
"i had a vision in which the sixth patriarch authorised me to teach! so i'm the seventh patriarch"
and replies
"Okaaaaaay"
————
my position is i am the current patriarch and since most zen today is a pile of shit and fake teachers i have deregistered all except three
any teacher who wants to appeal being deregistered can apply on my blog
i have actually deregistered brad because he has further to go and from a life point of view , taken a wrong turning, that is, i don't feel its to his advanatage anyway, a mistake is a mistake until we take the new road !
juno writes
"I have to fart a lot the last couple of days, I'm wondering if it is related to my vegetarian food orientation. But as long as no others get harmed by my farts it is probably ok. "
the fart is in fact a gas from bad gut flora/biofilm fermenting what you are eating
that
is
they are getting to the nutrients first and creating toxic byproducts which screw the brain and health and dramatically raise the risk of cancer and thyroid malfunction and other diseases !
not
to
mention
joint
problems from the autoimmunity induction !
check out the compendium and biofilm carbohydrate diet
Didn't Nishijima also have some sort of corporate sponsorship?
Public radio works on the donations model. They come up with a lot of great stuff that way.
I don't know much about computers and audio, but:
Audacity is an audio editor
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac
LAME is an .mp3 audio encoder – you can export your audio book as an .mp3 file (e.g. low bit rate MPEG-1 Layer 3 audio)
Far better than .mp3 is AAC plus – the AAC being Dolby Digital Audio baded on MDCT – which works for perceptual audio coding v. the myth of 32 equally spaced band-pass filters (.mp3) which is obsolete by 15 years.
Remember, 384 KbpS is Dolby Digital theatrical 5.1 surround sound. And 384 is six hours of 5.1 surround audio on just one CD!
The Plus being Fraunhofer's Spectral Band Replication overdrive.
(google "The Reference Model Architecture for MPEG Spatial Audio Coding" .pdf)
The best professional stuff doesn't run on a MAC
http://www.orban.com/products/streaming/opticodec-pc1020/
12:1 compression is completely transparent (e.g. 1.54 MbpS –> 128 KbpS Stereo) and 64 KbpS is FM Stereo Quality. 32 KbpS is better than AM radio. 16 KbpS is AM monaural quality!
That's 12 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 96 hours of audio on one CD respectively using AACplus encoding!
Or, send me a set of CDs and I will encode them (e.g. compress them down to 1 .mp3 or AACplus CD) for you.
But not immediately.
Chas
Congrats to the audio book!
Not everyone has to have an ordinary 9 to 5 job..People should capitalize their talents. Some people earn quite good living from net poker, because they have good analytic skills for example.
People should find a way to make money from what they are good at and which is not killing their "souls". You might not become a millionaire, but if you earn your living and keep a free spirit it is already quite good result in my opinion.
That Nishijima video was quite impressing, but not everyone has that level of modesty to be willing to be part of the system if he /she knows that there could be an other way of living too.
Hi all,
Harry wrote:
Well, I suppose it's none of my business if it's just a Dogen Sangha LA thing (if it is my business at all!), but I always admired Nishijima Sensei's value of the importance of having 'ordinary' people living and working in the world as practitioners and teachers. This move would change things in that regard I think and might alter the tone of Dogen Sangha quite a bit.
I'm totally with Harry in this one. I agree that Nishijima's approach is the thing: to practice as a normal working citizen and to practice Buddhism with family, work and so on. And as a "leader" (fuck, that word gives me creeps!) of Finland's DS group, I'm not so happy, if DS is spreading into some kind of organization with official donations and all religious non-profit posse marks. I think that's not the point what Nishijima's ideas are.
As Brad says, "Dogen Sangha" is just a name. So is "Dogen Sangha International". There is no rulebook. There is no organisation.
If Brad and the guys at Dogen Sangha LA want to organise their finances in some way or other that's their business. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of groups around the world led by Nishijima's heirs/students, some of which call themselves "Dogen Sangha", some of which don't. As I see it, for "Dogen Sangha International" to refer to something 'real' there would have to be an organisation with a rule book. Any donations received would have to be carefully distinguished (money for Brad to live on, or money for "Dogen Sangha"?), accounted for and apportioned throughout the affiliated groups worldwide. Sounds like a nightmare.
"Dogen Sangha" and "Dogen Sangha International" are just names. Just ideas. One name and one idea too many if you ask me.
I agree with you, Anon 108. You wrote:
As I see it, for "Dogen Sangha International" to refer to something 'real' there would have to be an organisation with a rule book.
That would be a nightmare indeed. If that ever happen, I'm out.
I'm not sure I've ever been "in" Uku, but whatever Dogen Sangha is, it's not just Brad and the LA group. So when Brad writes:
"Once Dogen Sangha is set up as a religious non-profit, I plan to reconfigure the donations so that people can send them to Dogen Sangha and get an end-of-the-year statement. Then Dogen Sangha will pay me a portion of what they receive…"
I wonder what he's talking about and how many other Dogen Sangha groups he's consulted, worldwide? If he's only taking about DSLA he should make that clear.
Anon #108, yeah. If Brad is talking about DSLA, then it's perfectly clear and bueno. But if he's referring to all DS groups and registering DSI as a religious non-profit organization with donations etc., then I'll leave DS immediately.
I mean, I'll leave DS if it's getting registered and if it's going to Sotoshu direction. I'm not leaving it if Brad only talks about it, hahhaa!
Hi Harry
I guess you're aware of this? Nishijima Roshi was fortunate enough to be financially supported by Mr Ida, of the Ida cosmetics Company, he didn't actually support himself. Mr Ida supplied him with an office and he was free to spend his time working on Buddhism. It wasn't a normal "job" by any standards. That support continued until Mr Ida died a few years ago; the dojo in Ichikawa was closed down at that point. Having a generous benefactor means you don't have to scramble around for cash, which I agree can seem quite undignified. I agree with Malcolm too – it would seem, at the very least somewhat discourteous to make moves towards institutionalising DS without consulting the more serious of Nishijima's Roshi's Dharma heirs who are running groups under that name.
Best
Andrew
Anon #108 said…
As Brad says, "Dogen Sangha" is just a name. So is "Dogen Sangha International". There is no rulebook. There is no organisation.
which reminds me of the Will Rogers quote, "I am not a member of any organized party — I am a Democrat."
"I guess you're aware of this? Nishijima Roshi was fortunate enough to be financially supported by Mr Ida, of the Ida cosmetics Company, he didn't actually support himself. Mr Ida supplied him with an office and he was free to spend his time working on Buddhism. It wasn't a normal "job" by any standards. That support continued until Mr Ida died a few years ago; the dojo in Ichikawa was closed down at that point. Having a generous benefactor means you don't have to scramble around for cash, which I agree can seem quite undignified. I agree with Malcolm too – it would seem, at the very least somewhat discourteous to make moves towards institutionalising DS without consulting the more serious of Nishijima's Roshi's Dharma heirs who are running groups under that name."
Hi Andrew,
Yes, I was sort of aware of that situation regarding Nishijima Roshi. That is quite different to setting up a 'non-profit' org that effectively profits someone in particular.
I have no problem whatsoever with donations etc. I hope that works out for Brad… the problem may be that, when you set up an organisation in a certain way, the way you set it up very often (over time) determines the nature of that org despite your own best wishes, despite the fact that the leadership may be benign. You are installing a sort of organisational 'culture' based in the way an org is set up/ organised.
From an organisational point of view, the shape this 'non-profit' org has been described as having looks like a sort of disingenuous cult to me at present… Be careful what you wish for, in other words.
But maybe it is all a Dogen Sangha LA issue as indicated by others earlier. Even so, it would seem to mark a departure for DS in that the teacher would be being supported, in full or in part, by student contributions.
Regards,
Harry.
Yes they are just names and zen
teachers are selling water by the
river. Pretty much all of life is
a scam.
In a universe without duality
energy is shifting through
different states and phases. This
human smoke and mirrors show has
no merit.
The Zen Masters in the mountains
of China grow their own food and
build their own houses.
What would an authentic man living
an authentic life do?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7Q-3RFbro
The religious non-profit thing is only for Dogen Sangha Los Angeles. I don't think I could set something like that up for the entire Dogen Sangha International (whatever it is) even if I wanted to.
And I do not want to.
This is just a way for the LA group to support itself. I would then be an employee of that group.
I think.
I really don't understand any of this stuff.
And, yeah, I could get a job. I probably will. If I can find one. Has anyone heard that the economy is kind of bad right now?
"The more serious of Nishijima's dharma heirs?"
Who could you possibly mean?
What could you possibly mean?
Brad,
thanks for clarifying your plans and that they're only concerning DSLA. I already bought a ticket to Pure Land (just in case), but I need to return it now. I hope I'll get my money back. Gosh!